Playing With My Commotions
by AquaRock
Summary: Parappa and Sunny. These two have formed quite the cute relationshizzle, am I right? But what if something were to occur between them so that (Sarappa? Punny? I like Punny better.) Punny were not so in love? Ulterior motives, secret infatuations, and greed clash into one awful tragedy...probably.
1. Chapter 1

Parappa stared at the wooden table, unable to keep eye contact with Sunny on the other side. He twiddled his thumbs, his arms resting on the table. He could only hear the clock ticking from the wall on his right mixed with his predictions of what would happen after he said what he wanted...

_"After all these months, and you're quitting on me?!"_

_"Are you out of your mind?!"_

_"Are you having an affair with PJ?!"_

"Parappa..." Sunny's soft voice broke his concentration. After being lost in thought, Parappa finally looked at her. Her expression had gone from jovial to solemn previously. He had said the discussion was serious. "Is there something you're not telling me?"

_I had to do this at some point. I don't want to do it, but enough is enough, _Parappa thought. After a deep inhale, he spoke, "Sunny, I have liked you for a long time. When we started dating, I thought it was the best thing that could happen to me. But, after a while, I realized that it wasn't exactly true..."

Sunny's expression darkened, contrary to her usually bright countenance. She looked as though she wanted to speak, but stared at Parappa and continued to listen intently. Parappa rubbed his nape before moving on, his breathing uneven.

"I think I liked you for...the wrong reasons. See, when I began liking you, I didn't really know who you were, but..." Sunny's countenance was not helping him at all, what with her looking ready to cry. Again, he was unable to even look at her, lest he may have broken down himself. "What I'm trying to say is, I was...just not ready. And after seven months of dating...I guess it only confirmed my unpreparedness..."

Sunny couldn't bear much more of it. She closed her watering eyes and scrunched up her face. "So, are you breaking up with me?" she asked, her voice wobbly. Parappa clenched his fists in distress.

"Y-yeah..." Parappa's voice was brittle, weak. He never expected that word to come out of his mouth in that context. Seven months ago to that day, he thought he was with the love of his life, and that nothing could break their emotional bonds. And in just a few short paragraphs, all of that had just ended. Taking another deep breath, Parappa wrapped his finger around his collar. "I'm s-sorry..."

She sniveled before getting up from her seat. Sunny wanted to leave then, but she said, "So that explains why you were late for our dates in the past few days, and why you forgot about our monthly anniversary today..."

Parappa didn't appreciate the accusations, frowning at them. Earnestly, he remarked, "Now, Sunny-"

"Don't 'now, Sunny' me!" the flower snapped angrily, slamming her fists on the table as tears streaked down her face. Parappa saw her eyes sparkling at that point, his heart skipping a beat from the surprise. "If you weren't ready for us being a thing, you could have said something sooner!" After more snivels, she finally walked out of Parappa's kitchen. Parappa, paralyzed with consternation, watched her walk away from him both physically and emotionally. Sunny gave Parappa one more stare of longing and resentment before slamming the door. The impact shook a few of the pictures on the nearby wall, causing one of them to fall, the glass frame shattering. Parappa took notice of the fallen image and walked over to it.

He picked up the frame, careful not to cut himself, and looked at the picture. It depicted him and Sunny kissing each other, in a time where neither of them were aware the present day would come. A crack had appeared right between the two former lovers, perfectly depicting their relationship state at that point. The rapdog sighed and began cleaning the glass from the carpet.

_I had to do it, _Parappa thought as he unwrapped his vacuum cord. _If I didn't do it now, I can't imagine how it would have been later..._

Oddly enough, he felt a sort of satisfaction for his actions in the past few moments. It _did _take courage to do something he felt was right, even at the expense of others' feelings. He felt less weight to bear on his shoulders since he had announced his decision. There was obviously the adverse heartbreak that came with the breakup, but Parappa tried not to let this bother him too much. Regardless, after a few hours of listening to King Kong Mushi while lying on his bed, he couldn't distract himself from the events that had transpired in moments past.

. . .

In the midst of the hip hop goodness coming from his gramophone, Parappa heard his cell phone vibrate, the noise waking him up from his nap. He picked up the phone, turned off the gramophone on the other end of the room, and answered the phone. "Hello?"

"Hey." It was PJ. "I heard about what happened. Sorry to hear that..." In most cases, PJ wouldn't have shown concern for anything involving Sunny and Parappa, but with something as pertinent to the friend group as a break up, and to one of his best friends, the bear felt obligated to be involved somehow.

The rapdog sat on his bed. "Yeah," he said simply, not knowing what else to say.

"What made you call it quits?"

"It _wasn't _calling it quits," Parappa spat defensively. "It was...making adjustments with how we would...treat each other."

"If it was just that simple, you wouldn't have broken up with her," PJ said bluntly, indifferent to the sensitivity of the occurrence. Parappa sighed in exasperation.

"You wouldn't get it, PJ. You don't even LIKE girls to begin with!"

"And look where it's gotten me. No breakups, no worries, no regrets." The bear's attitude had lost all implications of sympathy. All Parappa could do was roll his eyes. _Same old PJ, _he thought. "Oh, hey, listen, if you're looking for something to do, I made a new beat for our next show. Come over if you want."

Well, that was one good thing. It would be an effective way to get his mind off of Sunny, it would get him some rap practice, and he'd spend time with someone who he knew didn't hate him. Speaking of which, his mind shifted to how MilkCan would react. Sunny and Katy were pretty close, so there was no doubt she told Katy the first chance she had. And from there, it would spread to the other members of MilkCan. He briefly considered their reactions to the relationship fiasco, but didn't let those thoughts alter his decision-making process. After all, people did stuff like this so that both members of the relationship would benefit somehow, right? He wasn't supposed to think too much about others' reactions, right?

"Hello? Parappa? Are your thoughts being spoken through exposition again?" PJ asked over the other line. Parappa snapped out of it and decided to let his thoughts be within quotation marks.

"Uh, sorry about that. Yeah, I'll be over there in a minute," Parappa assured. He hung up and grabbed his orange beanie from one corner of his bed. He glanced at his bathroom mirror to see any glaring flaws to his appearance. He shrugged and left for the door, looking at the spot in the wall where the fallen picture was. He remembered what happened to it and shook his head at the thought before leaving.


	2. Chapter 2

Parappa Town was a usually quiet place, but that wasn't to say it didn't have its share of surprises. Parappa had discovered that the hard way in his excursion to PJ's house. He strode on a sidewalk, the area populated with a combination of humans, anthropomorphic animals, and miscellaneous objects walking and talking. It was warm and sunny out, the weather apparently compensating for Sunny's absence. The rapdog was unaware of the cacophony of the citizens around him, as he had King Kong Mushi's hip hop goodness playing in his head. He used this as inspiration for the new set of rhymes he would lay down at PJ's.

His phone broke his concentration with a text tone. Parappa stopped at a dank alleyway to read the text messages. Of course, there were the texts of sympathy (mostly) from the members of MilkCan.

_Heard about ur breakup :'( sry 2 hear it didnt work out -KT_

_Sux to hear about what happened. -Ma-San_

And one particularly disparate message from a person of interest:

_hope things turn out well for you guys -Lammy_

Huh, Parappa thought. Lammy's message was the only one that wished anybody well. Sure, the other two messages may have had the same intention, but it was subtext if anything. Peculiarly, Parappa was looking forward to Lammy's message out of anyone else's, and his heart beat a bit faster in anticipation..._I just know she'd be the one to help me the most with this, for some reason. _Mm-hmm. Just keep telling yourself that, pup. Even with Lammy's terse message, the rapdog felt a bit more contented already.

The rapdog continued on his path to PJ's house. Parappa saw an off-white one-story house with a small front porch. The house fit well with the rest of the neighborhood in downtown Parappa Town, as long as one didn't count the hip hop instrumentals emanating from it. Parappa stepped onto the porch and rhythmically knocked on PJ's door, dancing with his beat. On the other side of the door, PJ was dancing along with him before opening the door.

"What's up?" the bear said upon seeing Parappa. PJ's shades were propped against his forehead.

"Well, I'm single now," Parappa replied, a bit of dolefulness in his voice. However, the dog was smiling as he walked inside.

"You surely don't seem too sad about that," PJ commented, a sly smile on his face.

"It's a new beginning, I guess," Parappa remarked dismissively.

. . .

_"...For modern hip-hop, I raised the scale,_

_You try to kick my butt in rapping? You ain't grazed the tail, _

_It's tragic how your short rhyming days have failed,_

_My rhymes, though, are blazing trails with amazing sales!"_

Parappa moved away from the studio microphone and looked at PJ expectantly after he freestyled. PJ, with a blank stare, commented, "The lyrics are ill enough, but the flow wasn't up to par. What, is it the beat killing your rhythm?"

"It's a freestyle, PJ," Parappa defended. "My flow's always a little off the first time I'm rapping with a beat. The bass is too loud; I can barely hear the sax."

"How can you not? The mixing is just fine! You're a dog, so you got good hearing, right?"

Parappa rolled his eyes. "I just want this next album to be better than our first one. You remember _I Scream_ and how the critics AND the fans hated it?"

PJ shrugged. "It was our first album, a lot of guys had bad first ones."

The rapdog squinted his eyes in disbelief. "King Kong Mushi, Tay-C, Big Daddy Payne, Ras? All of them had good first albums."

"Yeah, but you're listing the exceptions," said PJ as he produced a sandwich from out of nowhere.

"I just...need to make sure this next album blows the other one out of the water. Sure, I released three singles after the first album, but a good career can't be carried by just singles..."

Parappa was restless about his career. He had been dreaming about a rapping career ever since he first heard it. Like others, his ability when first starting out wasn't exactly favorable. However, throughout two games (three if you count Um Jammer Lammy's Parappa stages) his lyrical dexterity had matured, honed, ameliorated. If it weren't for his official debut with King Kong Mushi, however, Parappa didn't know how bright his career's future would have appeared.

PJ wasn't serious about most things, but when it came to his music, it wasn't wise to compete with his instrumentation. The bear had a shrewd perception of rhythmic accuracy and harmonious production. It was quite possibly the only thing at which he excelled. It was the bear's passion to make killer beats for rappers to use, along with creating songs used in clubs and the like. During the day, he wasn't too active, but at night, he was the main attraction to Club Fun. While the club lived up to its name for him, PJ aspired for even greater destinations.

"Look, you probably just had a rough day, considering what you did earlier. It's getting late, so I'm heading off to Club Fun. Oh, and I almost forgot; the girls are doing a promotional concert for their new album. Did they say anything about that to you?" PJ said, getting up from his couch.

"Uh," Parappa began before receiving a text message. It was from Lammy, announcing the same thing PJ stated. The rapdog looked up from his phone to see PJ's smug grin, the bear apparently predicting when they would text the rapdog.

"And they told me to give you this, plus let you do sixteen bars as an introduction before MilkCan starts," PJ continued, showing a backstage pass. Parappa took the pass and put it in his pocket. Then a thought occurred in Parappa's mind, his expression panicked. PJ noticed and asked, "What?"

"Was Sunny invited to the concert, too?" Parappa asked with concern.

"Yeah, why? You planning on making up with her there?" PJ teased.

"No..." the rapdog replied with anguish...

_Parappa imagined the throng of partygoers jamming out and headbanging to the rock goodness exuding from the stage. MilkCan performed brand new songs, the performance better than ever before. The melodic notes from Lammy mixed with the fastidiously precise drumbeats from Ma-San integrated with Katy's silvery vocals and compelling bassline. While everyone in the band was great, he couldn't help but particularly glance at Lammy playing that guitar. The red hair and comely purple eyes were especially appealing..._Wait, I don't like her! _Parappa thought in this reverie._

_Familiarity was in his peripherals during the concert, so he chanced a peek at the right side of the dance floor. His emotions became mixed upon seeing Sunny. It was good she wasn't feeling sad enough to abandon her friends in a big event like this, but it was bad since she was whispering into a handheld transceiver, a look of pure vengeance on her face._

_The next second, the club entrance was breached with an explosion. At the entrance, Parappa could see no other than General Potter aiming a sniper rifle at him, a red laser on his body. Before Parappa could react, General Potter fired his rifle, a loud PAOW enunciating the occurrence. The rapdog immediately felt agony in his chest, right where his heart was. Clutching his wound, he heard MilkCan suddenly switch their song to one Parappa had heard from a skit. _

_"Mmm, whatcha say, mmm, that you only meant well?_

_Well, of course you did,_

_Mmm, whatcha say, mmm, that it's all for the best?_

_Of course it is..."_

_Parappa collapsed to his knees and dramatically looked at Sunny, whose expression would have been comical if taken out of context. At the moment, however, her face contorted with purest loathing, watching with bloodlust Parappa's last few moments on Earth. His torso then fell to the ground, his face still toward Sunny. The flower approached Parappa, tears welling up in her eyes. _

_"Now you know how I feel," she said before spitting in his face._

"...Parappa? Parappa!" PJ said for the sixteenth time, snapping his fingers to summon the rapdog back to reality. Parappa shook his head when he saw PJ instead of Sunny in front of him. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Whatcha say..." Parappa stated stupidly, obviously not fully recovered from his daydream. Then the question actually connected with him. "Uh, what?Yeah, I'm good. I just need to go out for a bit. I'll meet you guys there."

Swiftly did Parappa dash out of PJ's house awkwardly, eager to clear his mind. PJ looked at the track marks left on the carpet and shrugged. "That guy's weird sometimes."

. . .

_Should I say anything? _wondered Parappa as he walked toward Club Fun. He would have driven or taken a taxi there to get there more quickly, but gas prices, bruh, and taxis weren't cheap, either. He stared at his phone as he traveled, in the midst of typing a message to Sunny. So far, the message read:

_hey sunny you going to the concert? -PTR_

It was innocuous enough. But Parappa considered many factors. One, he didn't know if Sunny would read anything from him; the flower probably had his number blocked already. However, if that happened, it wouldn't hurt anything, right? Another might be where she _was _going to the concert to help clear her head from Parappa, and seeing Parappa's text may convince her to not attend. Finally, just talking to her nonchalantly like that may have come off as crass to her and to others.

Before going off into another daydream imagining the outcomes, he pressed "send" and continued walking to Club Fun. The club was within his sight, it being one of the only illuminated areas in that side of the street. Parappa could hear chatter and house music from yards away, evident the place was chock-full of people. He approached the bouncer at the front of the door. The bouncer, who was a horse from the waist up and a toad from the waist down, recognized the rapdog and said, "You're gonna want to go to the back, it's packed in here."

Parappa nodded at the bouncer and went around the club toward the back entrance. A minute later, he was in the backstage area, meeting MilkCan and (gulp) Sunny among the backstage people. The first thing Parappa did was notice her, only to realize he had just broken up with Sunny a few hours prior. The flower looked reserved, determined not to catch Parappa's eyes. Of all the things that could have happened as an aftermath of the breakup (_Whatcha say...), _Parappa figured it wasn't the worst thing in the world.

Katy emerged from the shadows of the backstage, a bass guitar slung across her back. Her eyes switched tentatively from Sunny to Parappa. Even she seemed to know about the awkwardness of the situation, but she wanted to break the ice.

"Hey, Parappa! Glad you could come!" Katy assured, trying for a smile toward the rapdog. Parappa returned the grin to reduce the awkwardness. Behind her were Lammy and Ma-San, the former tuning her guitar to the right key, and the latter simply reading a magazine.

"Glad I was invited," Parappa replied, shifting a bit uncomfortably. A human wearing a headset approached the group of performers.

"Two minutes," he said before walking away to tend to other managerial business.

"So, you're introducing us?" Katy asked Parappa.

"That's the plan, I guess," Parappa shrugged. He seemed meticulous in his words given his friends were Sunny's friends, too. Forgetting about his troubles for a little bit had seemed to make him unprepared to get into normal talk with the others. Thankfully, PJ's voice sounded from the back of the club.

"How's everybody doing?" the DJ asked the crowd, who replied with jubilant cheers. "All right, I know you all came for MilkCan, but we got something special for you guys. Here to introduce the band is the hip hop hero, Parappa the Rapper!"

The rapdog heard the loud cheering of fans outside the curtain. He took one more glance at the guys before throwing a peace sign and emerging from the backstage. The Club Fun members yelled even more loudly at the sight of their favorite local rhymer. Being surrounded by the public eye in such a way was always a good feeling for Parappa, and that day was no exception.

Parappa approached the microphone and winked at PJ. The DJ smiled and played his new instrumental to accompany Parappa's rapping. Full of energy, Parappa began rhyming.

_"Here in Parappa Town, other bands are makeshift,_

_You get some other bands just learning the basics,_

_But with silvery vocals and the monster bass hits,_

_2K's gonna break this city's rock stasis,_

_Ma-San has got drumbeats for weeks,_

_Songs are released to streets, and all the freaks critique,_

_Every precise rhythm'll make you leave your seats,_

_The new album coming soon, she'll release the beast,_

_Finally, we got the third part of the band,_

_Whose guitar skill goes farther than grand,_

_Her musical integrity's the law of the land,_

_So, charter the band; the next song will start with the lamb!"_

The rhymes were enough to get the crowd hyped for MilkCan's performance, screaming more loudly than ever. The band then burst through the curtains, beaming at the legion of fans going crazy for them. Parappa humbly stepped away from the girls, his arms out in a presenting manner. PJ stopped the instrumental and nodded to Katy, who was approaching the microphone with the bass guitar in her hands. The other members had their respective instruments. Katy gave a thumbs-up to Ma-San, who rhythmically clicked her sticks four times.

As Parappa had said, Lammy began with four-measure guitar riff to kick off the rock song. Meanwhile, Parappa had clambered down to the front row of the crowd, cheering on MilkCan as they performed. Not too far from him was Sunny, who had smiled for the first time in that performance, as far as Parappa knew. The rapdog had nervously looked behind him for General Potter, but the pugnacious, potted paternal unit was nowhere to be found.

The band had played four singles from their next album and two of their old songs that night. Parappa and Sunny jokingly joined the rest of the crowd in wanting an encore, laughing at their antics. The two looked at each other, grinning for a few seconds. When they saw each other, however, their faces turned serious before they looked away.

_So, she's still feeling a bit salty about it. But she can't hate me; she stood next to me the entire time, unless this was the only open spot, _Parappa wondered.

After the concert, the band, Sunny, and Parappa finished loading the instruments in the MilkVan, Katy proposed, "Why don't we get down to the dance floor, guys? Let's celebrate our new release!" Everybody assented and followed the cat inside the club. In the midst of the dancing madness that transpired inside the club, the group found an open spot to showcase their moves among themselves. They had gathered around in a small circle, dancing and carrying on with themselves. Having fun like that was great and all, but Parappa had felt an urge to say something to Sunny in private, and being in a club with blaring music and loud partygoers made it somewhat difficult to accomplish such a feat.

_hey PJ could you play a slow song? i'm gonna try talking to sunny about something -PTR_

The DJ looked at his phone and smirked. "Sly dog," he said to himself before grabbing his microphone. "All right, the next song is dedicated to all the couples out there in the club tonight. If you're here with your bae, say 'yeah!'" A copious amount of people cheered on, while Ma-San rolled her eyes at the usage of the word "bae." "And for those of you who are not, don't worry, because the last song for tonight is where magic's gonna happen." PJ smoothly pressed a few keys on his laptop and started a romantic R&amp;B tune.

The clubbers turned down for a bit and got with their "baes" if they had one and slowly danced in rhythm to the song. The minority of people there without a dance partner were either looking for one or awkwardly shifting toward the bar section of the club. Parappa eyed Sunny a few feet away, standing by herself within the dancing crowd. Knowing how pretty she was, Parappa was aware he needed to act swiftly before Sunny was swept off her feet by another partygoer. He stretched toward the flower, passing through the crowd.

Finally Sunny had intentionally made eye contact with the rapdog. Her expression was neutral at first, which turned irate.

"Sunny, I-" Parappa began before Sunny cut him off.

"What, so you changed your mind, and you want to win me back with a slow dance?" she snapped, her fists balling. Parappa took note of her body language and proceeded with caution. "Is this why you asked if I was coming here tonight?"

"No!" Parappa said defensively, too quickly to thoroughly think of his answer. "Well, yes, kind of, but it was mostly to talk to you about something..."

"You want to rip my heart out again with some other *$^Y#* (!?" Sunny cursed loudly enough for a few of the dancers around her to turn to her in surprise. Parappa's ears twitched in response as he sweatdropped.

"Uhh..." It seemed as though anything with which to respond was volatile enough to send her away, slap him, or worse. "Whatcha say?" Parappa said in reminiscence of his daydream.

It was enough for the flower. Sunny about-faced and stormed off, mumbling, "I can't be_lieve_ you, you dirty dog!" She didn't take twenty steps until she had come across another person of interest. Attired in a wifebeater shirt under a black denim jacket was Joe Chin, standing in front of Sunny. From Parappa's perspective, it looked as if they were talking. He couldn't tell what they were saying because he was too far away from them. Then the flower took one more glance at Parappa and walked away from Parappa's sight, trying to drag Joe by his hand. Joe and Parappa stared at each other for the a few seconds before Joe smiled in a self-satisfied manner and followed Sunny.

A part of Parappa had felt infuriated about Joe being there and, well, simply existing. The rich dog seemed to have a one-dimensional personality, defined merely by women, money, and making the ninety-nine percent feel bad about their finances. However, Sunny seemed just as shallow as Joe, Parappa thought. Besides, Parappa and Sunny weren't dating anymore. In reality, then, he had no reason to oppose Joe making moves on her if that was what he was doing. So, with a defeated shrug, he turned back and went toward the other girls.

Or at least, he _thought _he was going toward them_._ Parappa was certain the members of MilkCan were in the same spot as before he left to talk with Sunny. However, not a single member was there. A quick look around had revealed Katy dancing with Matt Major, Ma-San impatiently waiting for the slow song to end, and...wait, where was Lammy?

Apparently, she was right behind him. Parappa felt a finger tap his shoulder and found the red-haired lamb there, looking more nervous than usual. Upon seeing his eyes, the lamb's pupils seemed to dilate. But if that was anything obvious, it was nothing compared to Parappa's tail wagging.

"Uh, hey, Parappa," Lammy started the conversation. Her eyes flitted above Parappa, as though to see somebody in the other end of the dance floor. She saw Katy and Ma-San looking straight at her, mischievous grins on their faces.

The rapdog was unaware of the situation. "Hey, Lammy," he said just as nervously, putting his hands in his pockets. Was she going to ask him to dance? Or was she expecting HIM to ask her?

Both of their eyes had shifted anxiously. Then both of them had sprung the question concurrently: "Wanna dance?"

The event had caught them both by surprise. Their eyes locked for a split second, both left to their thoughts regarding how they should react. Parappa thought it over: How would others perceive him if he danced with a girl after having broken up with another one IN THE SAME DAY? If it was the other way around, and Sunny broke up with Parappa, all stress regarding the situation would have been lost, and he wouldn't have hesitated to accept. Would Sunny get even angrier? Would she think it was all a set up to make her feel jealous?

Then Parappa saw Sunny in the west side of the dance floor, only this time, she was not alone. He had seen a sight that had haunted some of his worst nightmares: Joe Chin dancing with Sunny Funny. Although, when he should have had a ruptured spirit, Parappa couldn't have felt more relieved.

"Sure," he said to Lammy. He had just taken his hands out of his pockets, anticipating a slow dance with Lammy when the slow song had faded away. The couples around them had broken away from their "baes" and prepared to exit the club.

Both Lammy and Parappa's faces turned a bright shade of scarlet, abashed by their failed attempt to dance before the slow song was over. Parappa was about to ask her if she wanted to dance the next slow song when PJ made his next announcement.

"All right, guys, thank you for coming out here tonight! Hope you all have a good night, and I'll see you guys on Monday," PJ said over the microphone.

_That's right, _Parappa thought, facepalming. _PJ said it was gonna be the last song of the night..._It was quite embarrassing for that to happen, the club closing down right when he would have had his first dance of the night. Lammy's countenance implied the same emotion. The two made one last look at each other before going their separate ways for a bit, avoiding the exiting partygoers in their paths.

Seeing Lammy that ashamed had sparked something in the rapdog. Parappa turned back to Lammy and beckoned for her attention. "Hey, Lammy, wait!" The lamb turned, curiosity in her face. "Uh, can we dance together some other time?"

Her eyes had dilated once more, and she blushed for an entirely different reason that time. "Uh, s-sure," she stammered, a bit taken aback from the inquiry.

"Cool, I'll see you later," Parappa declared. His tail wagged once more as optimism coursed through his body. He gave a smile at Lammy before turning around again. The rapdog had caught a glimpse of Sunny hugging Joe in his peripherals, so he didn't worry about where she'd be going for the night...Parappa laughed to himself.

Upon exiting the club, he pondered over the past events. So, any time he would try to talk to Sunny, about anything, it seemed, she would become infuriated. It was understandable to a degree, he guessed. But he didn't say or do anything to make her _that _mad, did he? He tried being respectful about it, and he didn't even let loose with the harsh reasons why he broke up with her. Deep down, a part of him knew this was one of the reasons why, though. One could be the most respectful guy she knew, and Sunny would try to make the guy feel guilty about it. She didn't seem keen to take responsibility for things she may have done.

As for the dancing situation...What had made Lammy willing to dance with him? Of course, he had no objections for that, especially since Sunny seemed to have moved on. But where exactly did he stand in Lammy's perception? Did she like him? Was he just a good friend? Or was he somewhere in between? _Was _there a between?

And how did _he _feel about Lammy? It was definite Lammy and Parappa were friends. However, he didn't feel something _click_ between them as he did with PJ or Sunny. _That's probably why the Romantic Love thing happened, _Parappa thought with a shudder. And yet, in the latter months of his relationship with Sunny, he became more and more interested in Lammy than he was in Sunny. But _why, _though?

Parappa was so lost in his thoughts he bumped into his front door. He unlocked his door and entered his house.

_There was also that time in my second game when she was looking at me real friendly-like at the concert..._Parappa blushed at the thought. Then, realizing what he was doing, he snapped out of it. "I'm hopeless," he lamented before climbing into bed.

**Next time on Playing With My Commotions...**

_"I think he likes you, though, no joke..."_

_"You blush when you think about him..."_

_"What do you guys think I should do?"_

_"Maybe I had chosen the wrong person..."_

_"'Just a friend,' my eye!"_


	3. Chapter 3

Lammy returned the smile at him as she accompanied her friends again. Katy, who was bidding a farewell to her dance partner, gave the same mischievous smile she had given the guitarist earlier. Ma-San shortly appeared as well.

"So, did you guys ever dance?" Katy asked curiously. She and Ma-San listened intently for Lammy's answer. With anguish, Lammy brought a hand to her chin. How would she explain the situation without embarrassing herself?

"Uh, we n-n-never danced," the lamb said, already imagining the laughter in her expense. "B-b-but there was a lot of people here, and it was kinda hard to find Parappa, you know?" Lammy sweatdropped when she saw the skeptical looks on their faces.

"Well, you need to complete the dare sometime, girl!" Katy teased, nudging Lammy.

"Who asked first?" inquired Ma-San as the trio began to leave.

"Uh...no one, I guess-" Lammy began.

"You didn't ask him?" Katy said.

"N-no, it's that we asked each other at the s-same time," Lammy explained shyly, her face a brighter shade of scarlet. Her friends had noticed this and proceeded to tease her.

"Sounds like Parappa may like you!" Katy jested, winking at Lammy.

"Shh!" Lammy chastened. "Not so loud!"

"What? You wouldn't have to worry about it unless...wait, do YOU like HIM as well?" Ma-San assumed.

"No, no, of course not!" Lammy lied, quick to answer. "But in case HE likes me, I don't want him to...feel embarrassed for doing so." Lammy surveyed her environment for the rapdog, only seeing cars in the parking lot.

"And then what happened?" asked Katy.

"Well, after we both asked each other, he said yes, and we were about to dance when the song ended." Looking back on it, Lammy found the song timing comical. She smiled at the memory of her and Parappa feeling embarrassed about what they could have done. And she was almost thankful for not having to dance that night; heaven knew what more embarrassment she would have felt if Parappa knew how to dance and she didn't.

"And then what?" Katy urged.

"Then, we were about to walk away from each other, but then he asked me to dance with him another time. Then I said yes," Lammy finished.

The three musicians had climbed into the MilkVan, the vehicle carrying their instruments toward the band's home studio. The moon was a waning gibbous that night, and the city was bustling in the nightly rush hour. Street lights and headlights alike illuminated the landscape as MilkCan traveled to their destination.

"I think he likes you, though, no joke," Katy pointed out from behind the steering wheel. "What are you gonna say if he asks you out?

"I, uh, don't know," said Lammy.

"She'd just say no and make him look somewhere else. That is, if she doesn't like him the same way he may like her," Ma-San reasoned.

The way the mouse worded it sounded a bit harsh to Lammy. So, Lammy clarified, "I wouldn't say _that _necessarily..."

"So you _do _like him!" Katy concluded.

"For the last time, no!" Lammy said with a bit of exasperation. "Why do you keep thinking that?!"

"For one, you didn't object to the dare of dancing with him," Katy pointed out.

"Well, he's a friend, friends dance with each other, right?" Lammy defended herself.

"You blush when you think about him," Katy said, smirking at Lammy.

"But-"

"And remember when we all performed with Parappa in Parappa 2? You two were looking at each other in a way more-than-friends would..." Ma-San smirked as well.

Lammy had twirled her hair around her finger and was anxious to change subjects. "Well, what about _your _dance partner, Katy?"

"Oh, yeah, him! You guys know Matt Major?"

"Who, the basketball-loving doofus?" Ma-San commented. Katy sighed.

"Honestly, Ma-San...But yes, that guy. I didn't know he was such a good dancer! I knew he went to the club regularly, but man!" Katy said, dreamily sighing as she reminisced about that night. Ma-San made a weird noise like laughing.

"Are we talking about the same Matt Major?" Ma-San quipped. "The guy who can barely play basketball without tripping over something, or even nothing at all? Why do I find that hard to believe?"

"Because you haven't _seen _Matt tonight! And after the dance, he smiled at me so cutely and just..." Katy beamed from ear to ear, blushing and looking as though she would burst.

Ma-San grinned at her. "So you like old Matty boy, huh?"

She seemed embarrassed to say it, but Katy admitted, "Yeah..." Ma-San's laughing intensified. Katy ignored her and looked at Lammy in the shotgun seat. "Since I admitted it, it's your turn now."

"But-"

"Don't worry, me and Ma-San promise not to laugh," Katy assured, giving a death stare at Ma-San with the central rear view mirror.

"All right, all right, I won't laugh this time," Ma-San promised. One could almost hear her whisper, "Loudly."

Lammy breathed in deeply and confessed, "Okay, I _may _kind of find Parappa...more than a little charming-" Katy squealed and Ma-San guffawed ("I knew it!"), which wasn't helping Lammy in any case. "But I don't know how Sunny's gonna feel about it if either of us asked each other out..."

"She shouldn't be too bummed about it. Did you see her in the club tonight? She was dancing with," Katy held back a laugh. "Joe Chin."

Rage replaced laughter in Ma-San's expression, fire in her eyes in a millisecond. The name burned within her like the burning one gets from overmicrowaved leftovers, times a hundred. "If he even THINKS about making a wrong move, I'll turn Joe Chin into Joe Chops!"

Lammy and Katy's ears flattened at the sudden outburst of Ma-San. An awkward silence followed until Katy pulled up to Lammy's apartment. The lamb collected her guitar and wanted to ask whether she should make the first move, or wait for Parappa to do anything. But, sudden consideration told her that she _shouldn't_ ask them; it was about time to show them she wasn't completely dependent on her friends when it came to decisions. Ever since she first knew them, that had always been the case.

_But not this time, _she thought determinedly. Wordlessly did she start toward the complex's doorway. Perplexed by her sort of tenacious attitude, Katy said, "Uh, so I'll see you at the studio tomorrow?"

Lammy curtly turned her head to say, "Yeah, I'll be there." There was absolute certainty in her voice, which was groundbreaking in itself. Before Katy could say something else, Lammy closed the complex's door.

Katy was left speechless and looked at Ma-San. "Do you think we laughed too much?" Katy asked.

"Ah, she'll get over it," Ma-San dismissed. "She bounces back, you know?"

"I guess..."

Lammy saw the car pull out of the driveway and travel away from her apartment. She closed the blinds and sighed before collapsing on her bed. She pondered on what she would do next with Parappa. A part of her told her she should do something extraordinary to really show that she genuinely liked him. Another part of her told her that if Parappa liked HER, he'd think and do the same. But what extraordinary thing would be enough to win Parappa's heart? Or did Parappa already like her enough so that she wouldn't have to do anything to convince him?

A third part of her made her realize that trying anything out of anyone's reach was part of the reason Parappa broke up with Sunny. Also, attempts to sway Parappa in her favor may end up worse than doing nothing at all...She knew to do what she felt was right, but the problem was, she didn't _know _what was right.

How funny it was to consider how simple things used to be before the first game. Then she moved to Roddington for two years and came back only to hear about Parappa's newfound success, being one of the most famous celebrities in the city. Parappa and the guys had quite a story to tell her once she returned.

_Maybe I'll get my answer tomorrow, _she thought before drifting into unconsciousness.

. . .

Daybreak dawned the next morning, birds chirping to signify the new day. Sunshine gleamed through Lammy's window, shining on her face. She felt the mild heat on her face and slowly woke up. After stretching and yawning, she checked her phone on her dresser. Two notifications had appeared on her lock screen. One came from her alarm reminding her about the band practice in an hour. The other one was a text message.

_hey lammy. what's up? -PTR_

So, a text message for her to read right as she woke up? Strange, but considerate, Lammy guessed. She replied,

_nothing much, wbu? -Lammy_

She saw three bouncing dots on the left side of the screen. Then,

_same -PTR_

_wanna hang out sometime? -PTR_

_Wow, _Lammy thought as she stared at her phone screen. _So forward. _She secretly admired that; if she had been as forward and ready to answer as Parappa was just then, maybe the previous night wouldn't have been so awkward.

_sure, what time and what place? -Lammy_

_..._

_does noon sound good to you? -PTR_

Lammy thought about it for a minute. Her band practice was such a short time away, and the days were usually long with practices.

_I got a practice with the girls, but maybe __later this evening _

Lammy erased the the last few words and thought of a less awkward way to convey the message.

_I got practice with the girls, but maybe seven o'clock at beard burger?_

_sure! i'll see you there then -PTR_

But Parappa wasn't finished. Bouncing dots appeared on the left hand of the screen, and disappeared shortly. Lammy looked through the conversation again. Her jaw nearly dropped. Did Parappa just ask her out on a date? And did she just accept? But what classified as a date? Lammy caught herself playing with her hair as she reread the conversation and stopped in spite of herself.

And would they be the only people hanging out? None of them seemed to specify. Lammy would have asked about it, but she didn't want the situation to become more awkward. However, she could ask that in the pretense of safety concerns, even though she knew Parappa wouldn't try to put her in harm's way.

_wait is it just us? -Lammy_

i just wanted to know if-

Lammy stopped typing when she saw Parappa's message.

_uh, yeah? -PTR_

Was that message with a tone of slight impatience? Or was it from nervousness, as she would have said if she were in Parappa's shoes?

_okay -Lammy_

Lammy gulped as she pondered about the confirmed outing with Parappa that evening. She had no idea if this was a date or not. In case it was, however, she vowed not to say anything to the girls. She didn't need any more thoughts about how she might mess this up from her friends' teasing.

She huffed and got washed up for her day, hoping that the music would help her forget her strife for a few hours.

. . .

"All right, from the top, AGAIN," Katy stated, impatiently sliding her hands up her guitar's neck. She nodded to Ma-San, who gave four preparatory stick clicks before they started the song again. Lammy played a difficult guitar riff while Ma-San banged on the cymbals and drums. The lamb kept her eyes locked on sheet music set on a stand. One knew the piece was difficult if Lammy painstakingly perused every thirty-second note like that. Even with the slower tempo, the notes emanated from her guitar like machine-gun fire.

The song had a punk rock feel to it, heavy bass quarter notes playing in a slow march manner. Katy played the simpler bass line and sang in the studio microphone:

_"In one last act of desperation,_

We hold back the trepidation,

We either lack the education, or willingness to fall,

Victory's the only option,

For far too long, we've been watchin',

Superiors who-"

Katy had stopped singing when Lammy played an C minor chord instead of an A7. The cat's head jerked to her left, her eyes glaring into Lammy's soul. Lammy's ears had flattened at the noise as she blushed from embarrassment.

"Aw, crap," Lammy muttered in discontent. That was the eighth consecutive time she had done that. Was today just an off day for her? Or was something bothering her that she didn't recognize? She pondered as she broke away from Katy's eye contact, staring at the sheet music.

"What gives, Lammy?" Ma-San called from behind the drums. "You're not usually this bad in practice."

Lammy's ear twitched in response, but she knew Ma-San was right. It wasn't like her to make the same mistake eight times in succession, in the same place of the song. Something just wasn't clicking with her, as though some part of her mind had been blocked...

Katy said. "I hate to say it, but I agree with Ma-San."

"See?" Ma-San pointed out. "Even Katy agrees with me. Hey, wait, what do you mean, 'hate to say it?'" she asked, suspicious.

"That's not the point," Katy dismissed. "Lammy, you've acted a bit different since the beginning of the practice. What's up?"

Lammy was silent for a moment before responding, "Nothing? I mean, you guys have your off days, too."

"Well, yeah, but you seem...distracted," Katy pointed out, setting her guitar against a speaker.

"Maybe it's something she's looking forward to," Ma-San suggested, hopping off her drum stool. Lammy tightened her lips. "I mean, it's the weekend, and Lammy can't be so antisocial that she never goes out some nights."

Lammy's ears shot up at the words "goes out." Did Ma-San know something about her plans? The lamb's eyes quickly shifted to the mouse, while struggling to keep a neutral expression.

Katy breathed deeply and responded with her best patience, "Well, let's just call it in early today. Hey Lammy, Ma-San and I are going to Beard Burger in a few minutes. Are you coming?"

Lammy sweatdropped, her face becoming pale. So her friends would be in her and Parappa's "date" location? _So much for secretiveness, _she thought. She checked the time on her phone. _Six-thirty?! I didn't even have time to get different clothes!_

"Uh, I'll meet you guys there," Lammy said before instantly packing her guitar in her case and dashing out of the studio. Katy and Ma-San stared at each other, both confused about Lammy's behavior.

"You know, she hasn't been the same ever since last night, at Club Fun," Katy expressed, packing her guitar as well.

Ma-San only smirked. "She usually does this when she has a crush."

"Wait, she does?" Katy struggled to recall her last infatuation that she shared with MilkCan.

"Yeah, don't you remember when she thought she liked Matt in high school? She acted the EXACT same way. She avoided talking about liking him, like she did when we talked about Parappa last night. She even blushed more often than usual when she had a crush on Matt. Then she got all defensive any time we would try to talk about Matt, even when we offered to help her. Now, she's moved on from Matt to Parappa, and the signs, they are a-showing," Ma-San concluded.

Katy contemplated this and knew Ma-San was right again. "So, what do you think we should do?"

Ma-San shrugged. "Nothing. If she didn't want help with her last crush, she might not want it with her current crush. I'd say, just let her do what she wants. But we'll have her back in case it hits the fan.

"Although, I'm pretty sure she'll have a better chance with Parappa."

"Why is that?"

"Parappa's isn't as nervous or clumsy as Matt is, and heaven knows if two clumsy people are together, it can just cause _disaster._"

And that had just killed Ma-san's moment of encouragement, causing Katy's ears to flatten.

. . .

Lammy had used her signature supersonic sprint that was used when she needed to rush hard. One example of that was when she woke up fifteen minutes before her first concert. Through the throng of citizens she dashed, periodically pushing people away from her and apologizing in her two-mile journey.

The lamb didn't stop until she was at her doorstep. She fumbled for her keys and opened the front door. She forgot to close it back when she darted inside. Exhausted, she stopped at her dresser to regain her breath, her shoulders moving up and down. After a gulp, she opened the top drawer of her dresser. She gasped when she saw the drawer was empty, save a tacky fall sweater. Lammy examined the other two drawers, which were vacant.

Her pupils expanded as she remembered the heap of dirty clothes on her washer. She had forgotten to wash that day! Now she was left with an ultimatum. She could have either arrived with the red crop top T-shirt she currently wore, or a sweater with badly-colored stripes across the torso, both of which seemed _really _unclassy for a date.

Parappa never seemed to mind her wearing a belly shirt before, but that was when he was convinced Sunny was his one true love. Now, given the more apparent possibility of him liking Lammy, the lamb didn't know how to accessorize. No choice seemed safer than the other.

Lammy checked the time again. She had fifteen minutes before the date was supposed to start. It would take her ten minutes to get to Beard Burger in a walking pace, but how punctual did she have to be to make a good impression on Parappa? She clenched her fists as she stuffed the sweater back in the dresser. _No wonder why THAT was in the bottom of the drawer._

After quickly fixing her hair, she started for Beard Burger. She arrived with around four minutes to spare. Standing near the entrance, she saw her friends at a table, munching away on hamburgers. Katy noticed Lammy first and waved at her. As the lamb returned the gesture, someone called her name from behind.

"Hi, Lammy." There was no doubt it was Parappa's voice. She turned her head and smiled at him.

"Hey, Parappa," she said without stuttering. _Whoa, did that go smoothly? _She breathed a mental sigh of relief when she saw Parappa in his regular clothes. She didn't need to dress up in the first place. Then again, in a place like Beard Burgers, it was probably overdressing to wear church shoes.

The rapdog reciprocated the grin and asked, "Where do you want to sit?"

Lammy recalled the outing was meant to be with just her and Parappa. She browsed the restaurant and found an empty table far from the other members of MilkCan.

"Let's sit over here," Lammy pointed to the table. Parappa followed her. The rapdog sat across the table from the lamb. Lammy appeared confident, but in her mind was panic, pure anxiety.

Parappa started the conversation. "Sorry I was late, the traffic was bad." He gave a nervous laugh.

"It's okay," Lammy dismissed. "I can't believe you drove all the way here, though. This isn't too far from your house, is it?"

"Yeah, but my skateboard broke just a few minutes ago, and I needed a way to get here quick."

"It broke? What happened?"

Blushing, Parappa did not seem inclined to say. "Let's just say you gotta be careful when doing a kickflip on a handrail..."

Lammy smiled as she studied Parappa's face. It was redder than a pepper, but his eyes had glowed with the down-to-earth honesty she came to like about Parappa. And the fact he was willing to share something potentially humiliating with her so readily on a date was also attractive.

She felt comfortable saying, "I had to rush here because I thought I needed to dress up a bit more than this..."

"Why? It's fine the way you're dressed. It's not like a fancy date or anything. I kinda..." Parappa began whispering to himself, "...like it..." The rapdog seemed embarrassed to say it, but he did, and Lammy just heard him then. Both musicians looked away from each other, and Lammy thought it apt to change the subject before she started blushing too madly.

"Thanks," Lammy said, "but...how about last night?" Was it a good subject with which to depart from the previous one? Lammy just used the first thing she remembered in days of past.

"Aw, man, it was pretty sweet," Parappa couldn't hold back the grin. "You guys MURDERED it with your promo! And your guitar solo? Dank in the bank!"  
Lammy couldn't stifle a chuckle. What did he just say? "Was that a reference to drugs?"

"Maybe? I honestly don't know," Parappa shrugged. "Maybe I listen to too much hip-hop music. It's a vice, I guess."

Meanwhile, Katy and Ma-San viewed the situation from afar, almost bewildered how well the date was going. Katy couldn't bridle her enthusiasm as she watched the lamb and the rapper, biting her lips and squeeing.

"Are you seeing this?" Katy squeed.

"What, Lammy actually going through with this and not messing up? I'm just as shocked as you are," Ma-San replied, looking a bit surprised at Lammy's progress. In fact, she was so taken aback, she set her burger down when Parappa and Lammy laughed amongst each other once more. Eyes wide, she looked at Katy. "Okay, that's three times, THREE times they laughed like that, and I couldn't detect any awkward moments!" The mouse took another glance, shook her head, and continued, "This can't be Lammy."

"Oh, stop, Ma-San," Katy dismissed, "Are you just upset because you thought she'd screw up, and you were proven wrong?"

"I thought SOMETHING awkward would happen between them! I mean, that's Lammy! Do you think," Ma-San lowered to a whisper, "that Rammy somehow evolved into a colorful version, and is now here to hurt Parappa?"

"Don't be ridiculous. And don't do anything to disrupt their date. They look like they're really enjoying each other, and I don't want anything to disturb-"

"Hey there, Katy, Lammy," Matt's voice called from behind the cat. He appeared beside the table and gestured to the space beside Katy. "Can I sit here?"

Katy, distracted by a crush of her own, smiled nervously and said, "S-sure, go ahead." She shifted over and moved her food tray to the side. Matt smiled at the two girls as he sat down.

"So, what's, uh, what's going on?" Matt asked, his hands folded on the table.

"Uh, nothing-" Katy began.

"A play-by-play of Parammy's date over there," Ma-San cut in, smirking at a glaring Katy.

"Parammy? You mean...?" Matt began. He thought of the amalgamation of Parappa and Lammy's name before turning to where Ma-San pointed. Surely enough, the two were there, conversing, laughing, enjoying their meals. He blinked and returned his gaze toward the girls. "Well, I'll be..."

"And that's not the surprising part," Ma-San went on. Katy butted in before the mouse could continue.

"Anyway, what brings you here?" Katy asked, her face becoming red. She smiled when Matt looked at her, and glared at Ma-San when he looked away.

As that transpired, Parappa and Lammy discussed other music topics.

"It was just that Mushi's rhymes COULDN'T flow with the music. The band was playing too funky of a rhythm for his flow to work out well," Parappa argued.

"But if his flow was so good, why couldn't he alter it so that it fit well with the song?" Lammy said, smirking.

"Because he shouldn't have sacrificed his style just because the style of the instrumental was different."

Sure, the two musicians were arguing, butt the atmosphere wasn't hostile. Both of them seemed truly interested in what the other had to say, which seemed more like a good debate than anything the U.S. Congress could do. (OOH, KILL 'EM) Lammy's elbows were on the table, her chin rested on the back of her fingers. Parappa was leaning back in his chair, his arms crossed.

"It couldn't have been that hard. I mean, you rapped with some of our stuff before, and you never seemed to have a problem," Lammy answered.

"Well, I'm more used to doing different things with different instrumentals. Mushi does more jazz samples if anything."

"So you're admitting you're better than Mushi?"

Parappa's eyes widened. "Wait, hold on, I'm not saying that!" he clarified, making Lammy chuckle. "But we can both agree that it takes way too long for the song to get to Mushi's part."

Lammy groaned in agreement. "I know...It's no wonder why the radio edit simply skips Mushi's part altogether."

Lammy took note of how confidently she spoke with Parappa. She had gone over the date in her head multiple times, and what was occurring now had never crossed her mind. In fact, it was even better than what she thought. She grinned at the consideration that she and Parappa weren't doing anything too fancy; it was just them talking to each other as though they weren't interested in a relationship of any type. And while it wasn't as romantic as other options, it certainly was a stress reliever.

The rest of the date went just as planned, with Katy barely containing her excitement, and Ma-San becoming more suspicious. Matt simply watched with interest. After around an hour of friendly discussion, both Parappa and Lammy rose from their seats.

"Thanks for taking me out tonight, Parappa," Lammy said, simpering.

"No problem. Can we do this some other time?" Parappa asked, his hands shoved in his pockets.

"Uh, of course!" she replied with enthusiasm. _I'd probably want to do this every day. _"Also, can you take me home?" The inquiry had caught Parappa off guard. He blinked a few times, as if the activity was fresh in his memory.

"Sure!" said Parappa. Tail wagging quickly, he led her out of the restaurant. Lammy took a quick glance at the members of MilkCan, seeing a blur that looked like Matt, before exiting with a sheepish smile at her friends. As soon as the door was closed, Katy and Ma-San turned to each other.

"Should we congratulate her? Should we do anything?" Katy asked.

"One thing's for sure, I'm still asking her what she did with the real Lammy," Ma-San said with suspicion.

"I'm sure that the real Lammy's here. Right, Matt?" Katy said dreamily. But the other dog wasn't there. It was as though the dog had vanished. Katy looked around for him, but he was nowhere to be found. Her ears turning to the sides, she asked again, "Matt?"

"And now, Matt's practicing witchcraft. What's next?" Ma-San griped.

"By the looks of it, the end of the chapter," Katy concluded with a shrug.


End file.
